2011 Authors

Katie Alender grew up in South Florida, where she attended high school at the Palm Beach County School of the Arts, studying Communication Arts. After graduating, she studied film at the Florida State University Film School, and then moved to Los Angeles, where she worked in TV development and production for several years, including a long stint producing dog shows for Animal Planet. Her first brush with publication was in high school, when her article “So You Want to Live On Mars?” was published in Sassy magazine. In 2009, her first book, BAD GIRLS DON’T DIE, was published by Hyperion.

Cynthia Hand is the New York Times bestselling author of several books for teens, including the UNEARTHLY trilogy. Before turning to writing for young adults, she studied literary fiction and earned both an M.F.A. and a Ph.D. in fiction writing. She currently resides in Boise, Idaho, where she teaches creative writing at Boise State University.

Nancy Holder is a multiple award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of the Wicked Series. She has won five Bram Stoker Awards from the Horror Writers Association, as well as a Scribe Award for Best Novel (Saving Grace: Tough Love.) Nancy has sold over eighty novels one hundred short stories, many of them based on such shows as Highlander, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and others. She lives in San Diego with her daughter, Belle, two corgis, and three cats.

Alyson Noël is the #1 New York Times best-selling, award-winning, author of 23 novels including: The Immortals, The Riley Bloom, and The Soul Seekers series. With 9 New York Times bestsellers, and over 8 million copies in print, her books have been translated into 36 languages, sold in over 200 countries, and have made the New York Times, USA Today, LA Times, Publishers Weekly, Wall Street Journal, NCIBA, and Walmart Bestsellers lists, and have won numerous awards such as: the National Reader’s Choice Award, NYLA Book of Winter Award, NYPL Stuff for the Teenage, TeenReads Best Books of 2007, Reviewer’s Choice 2007 Top Ten, appeared on the CBS Early Show’s “Give the Gift of Reading” segment, and selected for Seventeen Magazine’s “Hot List” and Beach Book Club Pick.

Marlene Perez is the author of paranormal and urban fantasy books, including the best-selling DEAD IS series for teens. The first book in the series, DEAD IS THE NEW BLACK, was named an ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers as well as an ALA Popular Paperback. DEAD IS JUST A RUMOR was on VOYA’s 2011 Best Science Fiction, Horror, & Fantasy List. Her novels have been featured in Girl’s Life, Seventeen, and Cosmopolitan. The Disney Channel has optioned the first three books in the DEAD IS series for television. She grew up in Story City, Iowa and is the youngest of twelve children. She lives in Orange County, California with her husband and children.